2.37am The father of Anders Breivik says his son should have killed himself.

"I don't feel like his father," he is reported as saying. "How could he just stand there and kill so many innocent people and just seem to think that what he did was OK?"

He told the Swedish newspaper Expressen: "He should have taken his own life, too. That's what he should have done."

1.01am Police have revised the death toll down from the massacre on Utoya Island. A spokesperson said there were now 68 confirmed killed on the island but stressed the number could still increase.

Police also increased the number of confirmed deaths from the bomb attack to eight.

The total death toll now stands at 75.

12.01am In his first appearance in front of court Anders Behring Breivik claimed he worked in an organisation with two more cells and said the attacks were necessary to "save Norway and Western Europe." He accused Norway's ruling Labour Party of a "mass import of Muslims" and said he wanted to hamper future recruitment.

The court ordered Breivik to be remanded in custody for eight weeks, Judge Kim Heger said in a statement following the closed-door hearing.

The first four weeks of the custody period would be spent in solitary confinement, with no mail or visitors allowed,

The judge said Breivik, 32, confessed to carrying out the bombing in Oslo and shooting at nearby Utoya island last Friday. He was charged with acts of terrorism.

10.54pm News agency AP describes the scene as reporters and locals thronged the courthouse ahead of the hearing for their first glimpse of Breivik since the massacre:

When one car drove through the crowd, people hit its windows and one person shouted an expletive, believing Breivik was inside. The hearing ended after about 35 minutes. A guard at the courthouse told reporters, "everyone has left".

10.43pm Just over 30 minutes after arriving for his first appearance in court, massacre accused Anders Behring Breivik left in a small convoy of two black SUVs led by police motorcyclists.

Anders Behring BreivikSource:AFP

10.18pm The vehicle bringing massacre accused Anders Behring Breivik to the courthouse arrived through a back entrance, leading to the basement of the building, News agency NTB reported.

People waiting to catch a glimpse of him cried "traitor" and "bloody killer", the agency said.

Behring Breivik's lawyer, Geir Lippestad, came in through the main entrance, having to force a passage through hundreds of journalists waiting since early morning.

Anders Behring BreivikSource:AFP

There's tight security around the closed-door hearing, with police citing concerns the suspect would use the hearing to send "coded messages".

Anders Behring BreivikSource:AFP

9.51pm Anders Behring Breivik has arrived at court for his first hearing, Norwegian television reports.

His appearance comes as hundreds of members of the media and onlookers gathered outside the courthouse in Oslo.

oslo courtSource:AAP

9.30pm Polish police have arrested the owner of an online trading business who is suspected of supplying chemicals to Norwegian killer Anders Behring Breivik, the Dagbladet newspaper reported.

The unidentified man was arrested in the southwestern Polish city of Wroclaw.

8.40pm Judge Kim Heger has explained the decision to close today's court hearing to the public on request from police. A statement from the court reads:

Based on information in the case the court finds that today's detention hearing should be held behind closed doors. It is clear that there is concrete information that a public hearing with the suspect present could quickly lead to an extraordinary and very difficult situation in terms of the investigation and security.

8.06pm Norway has marked its national mourning with a minute's silence.

Thousands of people bowed their heads in silence outside Oslo's main university at a ceremony led by Norway's King Harald V and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg (pictured below with Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon), who then signed a book of condolence inside.

minute's silence osloSource:AAP

Many mourners gathered in Oslo's city centre to lay wreaths and remember the victims of the massacre. Picture: AFP

osloSource:AFP

8pm The first court hearing of Norwegian gunman Anders Behring Breivik will be held behind closed doors because of security concerns, broadcaster TV2 reported.

7.11pm The prosecution will request eight weeks of pre-trial detention for Anders Behring Breivik and will also ask for his hearing to be closed to the public and media, a court spokeswoman says.

The self-confessed killer is scheduled to appear in court at 9pm (AEST), one hour after Norway holds a minute's silence of national mourning at 8pm (AEST).

7.03pmThe death toll from the killing spree on a Norwegian island could be revised downwards, from the current 86, police say. "From the available information we have now, the indications are that the numbers of the dead out there (on Utoeya island) will go down," Oslo police director Oeystein Maeland told NRK state television.

6.10pm French police have raided the home of Norwegian gunman Anders Behring Breivik's father.

Police raided the home of Jens Breivik (pictured below), in the village of Cournanel, near Limoux in southern France, early in the morning, Reuters reported.

Jens BreivikSource:AP

Jens BreivikSource:AP

Jens BreivikSource:AP

Jens Breivik, a retired diplomat, said in a weekend interview that he had not seen his son since he was 15 or 16, when he was "an ordinary boy."

Jens Breivik read about his son's involvement in the killings in Oslo and Utoya island online, saying that he was "absolutely horrified."

4.22pm Anders Behring Breivik said he had hoped to kill former prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, a news report said.

He said under police questioning that he had intended to shoot the former PM (pictured below) during her presentation on the island earlier in the afternoon but he was delayed, a report in Norwegian language newspaper Aftenposten said, citing police sources.

"2083: A European Declaration of Independence", a 1500-page manifesto attributed to Breivik, was posted online several hours before the attacks (see video above); in the document, which was reportedly written over the course of nine years, Breivik associates himself with the Knights Templar and calls for the targeting of "cultural Marxists/ multiculturalist traitors" and an all-out Christian war to defend Europe against Islam; the manifesto refers to a "Plan B" - understood to be Friday's attacks - necessary to draw attention to Breivik's writings; Breivik began organising "Plan B" in 2009.

1pm A New Zealand teenage girl, who has dual New Zealand and Norwegian citizenship, was believed to be on the island at the time of the shooting and remains missing. The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade told Agence-France Presse today the New Zealand embassy was in direct contact with the teen's family but she had so far not been traced. Names and photographs of the victims were due to be released today, with the list expected to include offspring of senior ruling party figures. Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has called for a minute's silence to be held across the nation at noon today (local time, 8pm AEST).

12.32pm Norway's King Harald and Queen Sonja, as well as several members of the Government participated in the service at the Oslo Cathedral, according to The Norway Post.

11.18am A UK police officer has gone to Norway to help the inquiry into the country's terror attacks, Scotland Yard tells the BBC. Foreign Secretary William Hague said the UK National Security Council would meet today to discuss the attacks.

11.12am Breivik has apparently told police that he had acted alone but in his online manifesto he claimed to be a founder member of a revived “Knights Templar” crusader movement with cells across Europe. The manifesto - entitled 2083: A European Declaration of Independence - describes the planned takeover of Western Europe by "indigenous Europeans".

“A large successful attack every 5-12 years was optimal depending on available forces,” he wrote.

Hiring a prostitute was part of his preparation for Friday’s atrocity. “I will probably arrange that just before or after I attend my final martyrs mass in Frogner Church,” he wrote. “It will contribute to ease my mind as I imagine I will be tense and very nervous. It is easier to face death if you know you are biologically, mentally and spiritually at ease.”

9.56am Self-confessed Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik wants a public hearing when he faces justice today (9pm AEST) and wants to be allowed to sport a uniform, his lawyer told Agence-France Presse.

"He has two wishes: the first is that there is a public hearing and the second is that he is allowed to wear a uniform,'' Geir Lippestad told the NRK television channel."I don't know what uniform,'' he said, adding that the 32-year-old wanted to explain why he unleashed the carnage and "wants to do it publicly''.

Norway in mourningSource:AP

Mourning roses cast by sympathisers float in the lake near the island of Utoya, Norway. There will be a minute's silence at noon (AEST). Picture: AP

8.20am AAP reports that Breivik used "dum dum" bullets in his rampage on Utoya Island. The bullets are designed to disintegrate inside the body and cause maximum internal damage.

"These bullets more or less exploded inside the body. All the energy of the bullets was deposited inside the tissue."They inflicted internal damage that's absolutely horrible." - Colin Poole, head of surgery at Ringriket Hospital in Honefoss.

8.08am People stand by flowers and candles left on July 24, 2011 in Oslo in memory the victims of a bomb explosion which ripped through government buildings and the shooting spree at the youth camp of the Norwegian Labour Party. Picture: Roald Berit / AFP

He was a fan of violent video games and former neighbours said he had sometimes been seen in "military-style" clothing. In the pictures that have so far emerged, Breivik appears well dressed, slender and clean shaven, a picture of the young entrepreneur he wanted to be. His businesses, however, were not much of a success, each one being dissolved after a short while after making a loss, until he established his farm business in 2009 and moved out of Oslo.

The purpose of his businesses, as Breivik admitted in one posting, was in any case to support his political activities.

But the man who listed Kafka and George Orwell's 1984 as his favourite books on Facebook made little secret to friends and others who frequented Christian fundamentalist and far-right websites of his racist views. A member of an Oslo Masonic lodge, reportedly a body builder and a hunter with two registered weapons – a Glock pistol and an automatic rifle – it has been Breivik's online profile that has, so far supplied the most public information.

7.55am AAP reports that a New Zealand teenage girl remains unaccounted for following the Norway massacre.

The girl has dual New Zealand and Norwegian citizenship and was believed to have been on Utoya Island where the shooting took place.

The New Zealand embassy is in direct contact with the girl's family but so far she hasn't been found.

7.42am Also from The Daily Mail comes this photograph. It shows how survivors at the youth camp barricaded themselves in a room to escape the gunman.

7.45pm A service for the victims of Norway's bombing and shooting attacks is being held in Oslo Cathedral.

Norway's King Harald V and his wife Queen Sonja were attending today's service for "sorrow and hope" at the grand structure in the capital. Mourners have strewn flowers and candles over vast areas of the plaza outside the cathedral.

All the pews in the church were packed, and people were even standing at the back and outside, huddling under umbrellas in the rain.

6.54pm A total of 97 people were wounded in twin attacks in Norway, police said today, giving the first injured toll from the bombing and shooting that also killed 92 people and left several missing.

5.23pm The man who has "admitted responsibility" for killing 92 people in Norway won't say if he worked alone.

Anders Behring Breivik, the man charged over the twin terror attacks in Norway which killed at least 92 people, has refused to reveal if he carried out the attacks alone, Norwegian daily Verdens Gang (VG) reported today.

The 32-year-old has acknowledged that he was behind the detonation of a bomb in Oslo about 3:30pm Friday which killed seven, and the massacre that followed on the island of Utoya, some 40km northwest.

"We sold him six tonnes of fertiliser, which is a relatively standard order," - Oddny Estenstad

Fertiliser can be used to make bombs.

8.33pm An eerie photo has emerged from the Norwegian island of Utoya where a gunman opened fire killing at a youth camp killing at least 84 people. In the photo a man believed to be the shooter Anders Behring Breivik can be seen walking near bodies in the water.

Anders Behring BreivikSource:No Source

7.40pm Here's what we know about the attacks so far:

Seven of the victims were killed in a massive explosion which ripped through government buildings, including Stoltenberg's office and the finance ministry, in downtown Oslo.

But it is thought that the bomber then caught a ferry to nearby Utoeya wearing a police uniform.

According to witness testimony, he claimed to be investigating the bomb attack and began opening fire with an automatic weapon after beckoning youngsters towards him.

Witnesses described scenes of panic and horror among the 560 people attending the youth camp. Some who tried to swim to safety were even shot in the water, according to witnesses.

Among the wounded was Adrian Pracon, who was shot in the left shoulder as the gunman opened fire. Speaking to the ABC from hospital, he said the scene on the island was like a "Nazi movie".

"He was shooting people at close range and starting to shoot at us. He stood first 10 metres from me and shooting at people in the water," he said."He had an M16; it did look like a machinegun. When I saw him from the side yelling that he was about to kill us, he looked like he was taken from a Nazi movie or something."He started shooting at these people, so I laid down and acted as if I was dead. He stood maybe two metres away from me. I could hear him breathing. I could feel the heat of the machinegun."He tried everyone, he kicked them to see if they were alive, or he just shot them.

5.21pm At least 84 people were killed in a shooting spree on the Norwegian island of Utoya, police said today. Police also confirmed that seven people were killed in the bomb attack on the capital Oslo, taking the death toll from the twin attacks to 91. Investigators say the toll could rise further as they continued to search for more bodies in the water around the island. [source: newscore]

Oslo attackSource:AFP

Police guard the entrance of the address of the man identified by Norwegian police as the gunman and alleged bomber behind the attack on government buildings and the Labour party youth camp in Oslo. Picture: AFP

4.53pmThe 32-year-old suspected of massacring at least 80 young people at a summer camp and setting off a bomb in downtown Oslo that killed at least seven is a mystery to investigators: a right-winger with anti-Muslim views but no known links to hardcore extremists.

"He just came out of nowhere," a police official told The Associated Press.

3.32pm SUMMARY AT least 87 people have been killed in Norway after two horrific attacks which police believe were carried out by the same man.

In the first attack, a bomb was detonated outside Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's office in the capital of Oslo. The explosion killed seven people.

The bomb attack was followed by one of the worst mass shootings in history. A gunman dressed as a police officer opened fire on attendees of a youth camp on nearby Uteoya Island, killing at least 80 people.

Police arrested a 32-year-old man at the scene of the massacre and believe he is responsible for both attacks. Norwegian media named the man as Anders Behring Breivik.

3.03pm Al-Jazeera has spoken to survivors of the massacre, who described the feeling of terror when they realised what was going on.

"But then people started to realise that others had been shot. They jumped out the windows and we all ran in different directions. We were all petrified. Most people ran down the water and hid behind the cliffs.

"He looked like a policeman and tried to show that he was going to help us and he tried to lure us over. Then he had a gun and started shooting at us."

2.33pm Here is a photo of 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik, the suspected shooter, from Facebook.

Anders Behring BreivikSource:Supplied

2.26pm The alleged shooter Anders Behring Breivik, who is now in custody, appears to have a Twitter account. There is only one update, from July 18:

@AndersBBreivikOne person with a belief is equal to the force of 100 000 who have only interests.

1.58pm The below photo shows a police SWAT team arriving on Utoeya Island as people hide near the water after a gunman dressed as a police officer opened fire at a camp organised by the Norwegian Labour Youth League.

Norway youth camp massacreSource:AFP

This photo shows injured victims being brought ashore after the shooting. Utoeya Island is in the distance.

Norway youth camp massacreSource:AFP

Here are two photos taken just one day earlier, showing Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr arriving at the camp.

Norway youth camp massacreSource:AFP

Norway youth camp massacreSource:AFP

Pictures: AFP

12.52pmFederal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said Australians would be appalled by the "brutal and shocking attacks on the people of Oslo". He added: "Norway is a good friend of Australia and the Coalition will give its full support for any assistance offered by the Federal Government."

12.20pm URGENTPolice say at least 80 people have been killed in the shooting spree at the youth camp of Norway's Labour Party, AP reports. Police director Oystein Maeland said they had discovered many more victims after initially reporting the death toll at 10. Mr Maeland couldn't say how many people were injured in the shooting.

11.50amDFAT has updated their travel advice for Norway. DFAT is now advising Australians in Oslo to "monitor the media and follow the advice of local authorities." According to the advice, Norwegian Police have "increased security around the affected area" and are urging people to "stay at home and to avoid crowds and the city centre".

11.45amNorwegian police confirm 17 deaths in the attacks but say they expect the death toll to rise at the youth camp where a gunman opened fire.

11.40amNorway's national broadcaster NRK has named the suspect in the Oslo bombing and youth camp shooting spree as Anders Behring Breivik. NRK and other Norwegian media also posted pictures of the blond and blue-eyed Norwegian. NRK says police searched the 32-year-old's apartment in Oslo overnight.

11.30amA police official has told AP the 32-year-old ethnic Norwegian suspect arrested at the camp on Utoeya Island appears to have acted alone in both attacks, and that "it seems this is not linked to any international terrorist organisations at all."

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because that information had not been officially released by Norway's police. The official said the attack "is probably more Norway's Oklahoma City than it is Norway's World Trade Centre." He said:

"It seems it's not Islamic-terror related. This seems like a madman's work"

11.00amA 15-year-old camper named Elise, who witnessed the shootings on Utoeya Island, described her terrifying ordeal to AP. She said she hid behind the same rock that the killer was standing on:

"I could hear his breathing from the top of the rock... I saw many dead people. He first shot people on the island. Afterward he started shooting people in the water."

9.30amDFAT's travel advisory for Norway - last updated on June 14 - remains unchanged. The advisory urges Australians to "be alert to your own security".

9.20am Australians concerned for the welfare of family and friends in Norway are being advised to attempt to contact them directly in a first instance. The DFAT 24-hour consular emergency Centre number is also available on 1300555135.

9.00amSveinung Sponheim, acting commissioner for Oslo police, says the suspect arrested on the island is a 32-year-old man who has Norwegian nationality and is of "Norwegian origin". He said investigators "don't know anything" about the suspect's motives, but believe he also played a role in the bomb attack in central Oslo. They do not know if he acted alone.

8.50am Police warn the death toll is likely to rise from 17 people.

8.40am No reports of any Australians injured in the twin attacks.

8.20amNorway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg says it's too early to speculate on who was behind the attacks but insists they will not intimidate one of Europe's most peaceful countries:

"People have lived through a nightmare that very few of us can imagine. The coming days will show who is responsible and what kind of punishment they will get.

"Norway is a tight-knit small country and when this kind of catastrophe hits us this strengthens our country and that is something that will help us through this difficult time.

"The message to whoever attacked us, the message from all of Norway is that you will not destroy us, you will not destroy our democracy and our ideals for a better world."

7.55amPrime Minister Julia Gillard has condemned the "brutal and shocking" twin shooting and bomb attacks in Norway. Ms Gillard said Norway was a good friend and partner of Australia and that "Australia stands ready to assist in any way we can".

7.40amNorway's Justice Minister Knut Storberget says the suspect held over the shooting is a Norwegian, but refuses to release further details about the suspect.

7.10am "We do not wish to confirm or deny any reports of groups taking responsibility for the attacks. We don't want to make the situation seem more serious than it is," Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has said, according to the BBC News.

"(Our priority now is to) comfort and care for people who have lived through a nightmare which very few of us can imagine" - Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg

7.00am Oslo's mayor Fabian Stang said the capital was struggling to come to terms with the idea that it had joined the list of cities targetted by bombers:

"I do not think it is possible for us to understand what has happened today but hopefully we will be able to go on and that tomorrow Oslo will be a peaceful city again."

6.50amDeath toll update: Local media reports are saying 10 people were killed in the shooting, with a further seven wounded. Meanwhile, police have confirmed seven people were killed in the bomb attack, two were seriously injured and several dozen wounded.

6.05am Speculation is rife as to who is responsible for the attacks. Theories range from hardline right wing groups, anarchists and Islamic militant jihadists.

Again, an earlier report about group 'Helpers of Islamic Jihad' claiming responsibility is wrong. The claim was a hoax.

6.01am Disturbing details are emerging about the shooting on Utoeya Island. The gunman, who was dressed in police uniform, reportedly walked into the camp and introduced himself as a police officer.

A witness on the island told VG Vett newspaper: “He said it was a routine check in connection with the terror attack in Oslo," before firing indiscriminately on the crowd.

The majority of youths at the camp -organised by the ruling Labour Party - are aged 15 and 16. Many tried to swim to the mainland in panic. A witness told NKR television he saw at least 20 bodies in the water.

5.53am BBC Newsreports the Norwegian Police are putting the current death toll from the Utoeya Island shooting at "at least nine".

Utoya Island Oslo shootingSource:news.com.au

5.37am 'Several dozen' injured in the bomb blast, latest reports say.

5.20am A journalist with VG newspaper, whose offices were also badly damaged in the blast, tweeted this about the site of the shooting, Utoeya Island.

@rtegeAmbulances on docks close to lake surrounding Utøya. Paramedics still working to save lives/treat injured in front of our eyes #osloexpl

5.14am Earlier media reports that a group called "Helpers of Islamic Jihad" had claimed responsibility for the attacks seem to be wrong.

Analyst Will McCants posted the original claim, made by Abu Sulayman al-Nasir on Arabic jihadi forum 'Shmukh'. He then issued an update, telling news.com.au the original claim was "not real".

Update:Abu Sulayman has now issued a retraction, stating clearly that “Helpers” was not involved in the operation and that his statement was not an official statement. He says those who carried out the attacks “must surely be known to all.”

4.59am“Central Oslo looks more like a battlefield,” Runar Kvernen, a spokesman for the police directorate, told the Washington Post.

4.28am "On behalf of NATO, I condemn in the strongest possible terms the heinous acts of violence in Norway," said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

"Our solidarity with Norway remains steadfast. NATO countries stand united in the battle against these acts of violence."

NORWAY-BLAST-GOVERNMENTSource:news.com.au

4.22am Emile Bersaas, 19, was attending the youth camp on Utoeya Island. She hid under the desk when she heard shooting. "The people in the next room screamed very loud," she said.

"I waited under the desk for two hours until the police smashed the window and came in."

Fabian StangSource:news.com.au

4.08am Norwegian soldiers have taken up positions around the Oslo city centre.

NORWAY-BLAST-GOVERNMENTSource:news.com.au

4.06am Adrian Pracon, a participant at the Labour Party youth event told the Varden paper: "From what I saw, at least four people have been shot and killed." Police have not yet confirmed any deaths from the island shooting.

3.57am A young man, apparently on Utoeya Island earlier tweeted the attack. Below is a rough translation of the tweets.

@kjetilvevle@BjornJarle we are sitting by the water. A man shoots dressed in police uniform. When are the police coming to help us.

3.55am Police believe the bomb attack and the shooting are connected. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

NORWAY-BLAST-GOVERNMENTSource:news.com.au

3.48am Reuters reports Norway police fear there may be explosives at the youth camp.

Police can not confirm anyone has been killed at the Utoeya Island attack.

3.33am Witnesses have told NRK reporters the gunman "had a Norwegian look". He appeared between 185 to 190 cm tall and have blond hair.

3.20am One person has been arrested on Utoya Island. There were reports of people fleeing the attack in panic, swimming to the mainland.

Norway ExplosionSource:news.com.au

2.59am Sky News reports the gunman is still firing indiscriminately, preventing emergency services from getting on the island.

Anti-terror police officers are on the way.

Between 500 and 700 children and youths are gathered on Utoya island at the youth camp.

2.39am A gunmen dressed as a policeman has opened fire on a Labour Party youth camp just outside of Oslo on Utoya Island and has "hit many" according to Oslo Daily News.

The event was the youth centre's yearly gathering and the Prime Minister had been scheduled to visit the event.

2.28am An Oslo caller to BBC News has said a youth camp run by the Labour Party has been attacked by gunmen, just outside of the city.

2.12am AP reports police have sealed off TV2's offices and are investigating a suspicious package.

There are also widespread reports of shots fired in an attack on a children's summer camp, also in Norway.

There is no further information at this stage and it is not known if the attack is connected to the bombing.

2.10am The official statement from Norwegian police

"There has been one or several powerful explosions in the government district in Oslo. So far, police cannot say anything about the scope of the damage, aside from that there's been one or several explosions."

They have not confirmed the existence of other undiscovered bombs, of which rumours are rife.

2.08am Police are urging people to leave central Oslo, and avoid large gatherings.

The Norwegian PM has confirmed he is safe but will not say where he is.

2.00am The Oslo police chief has told BBC News the police can't confirm if there was a warning sent before the bomb exploded.

Nor can they confirm if the bomb was in a vehicle or the exact casualty figures.

Information is still trickling in.

1.38am There are reports people are still trapped inside the damaged buildings.

A government official has told BBC News that on a normal day "many hundreds of people" would have been in the building, but because of the time of year and because it is Friday, not everyone would have been at work.

Norway ExplosionSource:news.com.au

1.23am Norwegian police have confirmed the deaths of two people after the powerful bomb blast.

Surrounding the blast are the Prime Minister's office, the Oil and Gas Ministry and the office of Norway's largest tabloid newspaper. Another one kilometre away is the US embassy.

1.16am Swedish reporter Carl Kleberg has tweeted this:

@CFKlebergTTPolice stops reporter of #Norway's Aftenposten: "because there are still two bombs that we don't know where they are." #Oslo

1.14amThe Guardian reports Norway police have confirmed the explosion was caused by a bomb. The police have spoken of "deaths and injuries" but only one death is confirmed so far.

1.05am Senior adviser Oivind Ostang told Norwegian TV2: "We can confirm that everybody who was working in the prime minister's office today are safe.

"The only thing I know is that there has been a fire or something approaching a fire in the R4-buildling which houses the oil- and energy office."

1.01am More pictures are being released of the blast.

Oslo explosionSource:news.com.au

12.45amMullah Krekar, founder of the Kurdish Islamist group Ansar al-Islam, who had terrorism charges filed against him on Tuesday, is accused of threatening the life of a former minister, reports Al Jazeera."Norway will pay a heavy price for my death," he said. "If, for example, Erna Solberg deports me and I die as a result, she will suffer the same fate."

It is not clear whether the explosion is an attack or at all related to the threat.

12.38am The explosion occurred near the Norwegian Prime Minister's office and the building of Norway's biggest tabloid newspaper, VG.

Walter Gibbs, a Reuters reporter, says he counted at least eight people injured. A destroyed car is outside one building but the cause of the blast is unknown.

Al Jazeera reports the blast blew out the windows of the building which houses the Prime Minister's office.

"I see that some windows of the VG building and the government headquarters have been broken. Some people covered with blood are lying in the street," a journalist with public radio NRK said from the scene.

The radio reported that the explosion seemed to happen near the finance ministry, which is near Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's office and the VG editorial offices.

Mr Stoltenberg was not believed to have been in his office at the time.

"There is glass everywhere. It is total chaos. The windows of the all the surrounding buildings have been blown out," added NRK journalist Ingunn Andersen.

Photos posted on the NRK website showed shattered glass in front of the devastated facade of the VG building, and soldiers closing off the area and people surrounding someone apparently injured in the blast.